The Oscar-winning actress says she takes issue with her 2011 drama ‘The Help,” which tells the story of a pair of black maids who work for white families during the American Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s.

Advertisement

“Have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and ‘The Help’ is on that list,” Davis told The New York Times in a new Q&A.

“I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard,” she explains. “I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie.”

Davis’ performance as Aibileen Clark in the period drama — which was set in Jackson, Miss. — earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, while the film was nominated for Best Picture.

Despite her feelings of regret toward the movie, Davis, who later won an Oscar for “Fences” in 2017, says she did enjoy her experience making “The Help” and praised the other people involved with the film.

“The friendships that I formed are ones that I’m going to have for the rest of my life,” she said. “I had a great experience with these other actresses, who are extraordinary human beings. And I could not ask for a better collaborator than Tate Taylor.”

Upon its release, “The Help” was met with numerous positive reviews from critics, but also garnered disapproval from some. Among those who took issue was the Association of Black Women Historians, which claimed the film was guilty of stereotyping and misrepresentation.

“Despite efforts to market the book and the film as a progressive story of triumph over racial injustice, The Help distorts, ignores, and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers,” Ida E. Jones, the organization’s National Director, wrote in an open letter in 2011. “We are specifically concerned about the representations of black life and the lack of attention given to sexual harassment and civil rights activism.”